It had to be done! After tearing apart every U.S. state by their flags, license plates, and shape, we decided to take another whack at it and get really real and rank their state mottos. Some of them are only a word long, others are entirely in Latin, and Texas is just trolling.

50. Maryland

49. Delaware

"Liberty and Independence" This is a real C+ effort for the very first goddamn state of the union. This isn’t a motto, these are just two nouns with a conjunction in the middle. COME ON, DELAWARE! YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE.

34. North Carolina

33. Michigan

"Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice" (If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you) The kind of explanatory motto that was probably written an hour before it was due. That’s like California’s motto being: “We are really far west!”

31. Ohio

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30. Kansas

"Per aspera ad astra" (To the stars through difficulties) They tried to ratify the original script of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as the motto, but the governor vetoed it for being too long.

28. South Dakota

27. Connecticut

"Qui transtulit sustinet" (​He who is transplanted still sustains) Call me crazy or biased, but I think this latin motto refers to all the brave Connecticut men who’ve bravely traversed the state, into new territories, and become transplants into Manhattan. Good for us.

9. Hawaii

8. Massachusetts

"Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" (By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty) This is actually scarily accurate—Massachusetts folks will happily punch you in the face to prove their point.

2. New Hampshire

1. Nebraska

"Equality before the law" There’s something especially badass about Nebraska’s diehard call for equality. They’re willing to go to jail for what they believe in, whether it’s the right to bear arms or marry a stalk of corn.